COVID-19 and fear, which comes first?

ABSTRACT

Today people have a few unanswered questions in their mind, such as "Do negative emotions will co-survive with the COVID-19 pandemic? Which one is worse? Which one will disappear quicker? Is there any connection between negative emotions and being infected by COVID-19 or the severity of infected individuals' symptoms? How are we supposed to live with COVID-19 and adapt our emotional system to the virus for more than one upcoming year? These uncertainties could result in massive pressure on people. While there is no clear consensus regarding what establishes psychological stress on an individual, the effect of negative affect and psychological stress on increased susceptibility to disease due to altered immune functions is well established. Here we are going through the possible effect of emotions associated with the present pandemic on COVID-19 course of disease and severity of symptoms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)